is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an or ...

located in south-central

Saga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of 809,248 (1 August 2020) and has a geographic area of 2,440 km2 (942 sq mi). Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasak ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, in Kishima District. It is known for its vast reclaimed land and tidal flats of the

Ariake Sea The is a body of salt water surrounded by Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, and Kumamoto Prefectures, all of which lie on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It is the largest bay in Kyūshū. Its deepest point is only about 50 meters (165 ft) deep, and ext ...

. As of October 1, 2016, the town has an estimated population of 23,606. On January 1, 2005 Shiroshi absorbed the towns of Fukudomi and Ariake, all from Kishima District, to become the new and expanded town of Shiroshi.

Geography

Terrain

Located in the Saga plains, Shiroishi is bordered by the

to the southeast. The port of Suminoe Bay, in the mouth of the Rokkaku River, has the largest

tidal range Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun and the rotation of Earth. Tidal range depends on time and location. L ...

in Japan with a maximum of about 6m at spring tide. * Mountains: Mt. Kishima (345m), Mt. Inuyama (342m), Mt. Shiraiwa (340m), Mt. Iimori (318m) * Rivers: Rokkaku River, Shioda River, Marie River, Tadae River * Lakes: Nuinoike, Kasegawaike * 85% of the total area of cultivated land is farmland.

Climate

*Annual Mean Air Temperature: *Annual Mean Precipitation: about

Adjoining Cities and Municipalities

* Kashima * Takeo * Ureshino * Ōmachi * Kōhoku * Ogi

History

*April 1, 1889 - The modern municipal system is established. At this time Shiroishi consists of nine separate villages: Hashishita, Fukudomi, Fukuji, Kinkō, Kita-Ariake, Minami-Ariake, Rokkaku, Ryūō, and Suko. *April 1, 1936 - Fukuji gains town status and is renamed Shiroishi. *April 1, 1955 - Kinkō and Ryūō merge to form Ariake. *July 20, 1955 - Rokkaku and Suko are incorporated into Shiroishi. *September 30, 1955 - Minami-Ariake is incorporated into Ariake. *July 1, 1956 - Kita-Ariake is incorporated into Shiroishi. *October 1, 1962 - Ariake gains town status. *April 1, 1967 - Fukudomi gains town status. *January 1, 2005 - The towns of Shiroishi, Fukudomi, and Ariake are merged under the name Shiroishi.

Demographics

27.01% of the population (7,437) are 65 or older. In 2005 there were 183 births and 322 deaths, 624 immigrants and 805 emigrants, indicating a negative

population growth Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 83 million annually, or 1.1% per year. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to ...

Economy

Agriculture

Shiroishi is a very agricultural community. Some of their agricultural products include ''tempe'', ''renkon'',

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus ''Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

onions An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domesticated, ...

, and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

Education

High schools

(prefectural) *Shiroishi High School *Saga Agricultural School

Junior high schools

*Shiroishi Junior High School *Fukudomi Junior High School *Ariake Junior High School

Elementary schools

*Suko Elementary School *Rokkaku Elementary School *Shiroishi Elementary School *Hokumei Elementary School *Fukudomi Elementary School *Ariake East Elementary School *Ariake West Elementary School *Ariake South Elementary School

Transportation

Air

The closest airports are

Saga Airport is an airport in the Kawasoe area of Saga, Saga Prefecture, Japan. It also uses the unofficial name . Saga Airport is located on the edge of the Ariake Sea, in what is best called a polder, 35 minutes from JR Saga Station by bus. History ...

and

Fukuoka Airport , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenger ...

Rail

JR Kyūshū The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait b ...

Nagasaki Main Line The , or simply Nagasaki Line, is a railway line owned by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) connecting Tosu Station in Saga Prefecture to Nagasaki Station in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. There is a separate branch of this line from Kikits ...

*** Hizen-Shiroishi and Hizen-Ryūō

Roads

National Highways National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all ...

: Route 207 and Route 444. * Prefectural Roads: Saga Prefecture Route 36

Festivals

*, July 13 - Floats are pulled down the main shopping district in the tradition of the Kyoto Gion Festival. *, October 1 - A fall festival celebrating the sea at Kaidou Shrine. *, October 19 - This fall

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

is held at the Tsumayama, Rokkaku, Inasa, and Fukudomi

shrines A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they are ...

. It features Japanese horseback archery, called ''

yabusame is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamak ...

''. *, December 26 - A bonfire festival where people pray for the coming year.

Notable Places

*, a park with many flowers. * Suko Castle, A castle ruin in the Sengoku period.

Ryūzōji Takanobu was a Japanese ''daimyō'' in Hizen Province during the Sengoku period. Takanobu was the head of the Ryūzōji clan. Biography Takanobu was the grandson of Ryūzōji Iekane (1454-1546). Ryūzōji Takanobu is known for expanding his clan's ho ...

's residence. *, an old shrine in the mountains west of Shiroishi. Of particular note is the stone paved road leading to the shrine. * a park and playground.

People from Shioishi

Ryosuke Kagawa was a Japanese actor. His son was child actor Sō Shuntarō. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1928 and 1986. His final film role was in the 1986 film ''Dixieland Daimyō'' directed by Kihachi Okamoto. Selected filmography * '' Stor ...

* Ariake Kambara *

Nabeshima Katsushige (December 4, 1580 – May 7, 1657) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Born to Nabeshima Naoshige, he became lord of Saga-''han''. Biography Katsushige was born in Saga, the son of Nabeshima Naoshige. At the time, Naoshige was a ...

* Kazuhiro Maeda * Yoshiki Maeda *

Nobuyoshi Mutō '' Gensui'' Baron was Commander of the Kwantung Army in 1933, Japanese ambassador to Manchukuo, and a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army. Biography Mutō was born in an ex''-samurai'' family from Saga Domain. After graduating from the I ...

* Yorozu Oda * Hiroshi Ogushi * Ryosuke Shirahama *

References

External links

*
Shiroishi official website
{{Authority control Towns in Saga Prefecture